Howard Harry Rosenbrock (16 December 1920 – 21 October 2010) was a leading figure in

control theory Control theory is a field of mathematics that deals with the control of dynamical systems in engineered processes and machines. The objective is to develop a model or algorithm governing the application of system inputs to drive the system to a ...

and

control engineering Control engineering or control systems engineering is an engineering discipline that deals with control systems, applying control theory to design equipment and systems with desired behaviors in control environments. The discipline of controls o ...

. He was born in Ilford,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in 1920, graduated in 1941 from

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

with a 1st class honors degree in Electrical Engineering. He served in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

during World War II. He received the PhD from

London University The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree- ...

in 1955. After some time spent at

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

and

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...

, he was awarded a Chair at the

University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology The University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) was a university based in the centre of the city of Manchester in England. It specialised in technical and scientific subjects and was a major centre for research. On 1 Oct ...

, where he founded the Control Systems Centre. He died on 21 October 2010. Prof Rosenbrock received many awards including the IEE Premium, the IEE Heaviside Premium, and the IEE Control Achievement Award, the first

IEEE Control Systems Science and Engineering Award The IEEE Control Systems Award is a Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers#Technical field awards, technical field award given to an individual by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) "for outstanding contributio ...

(1982), the

Rufus Oldenburger Medal The Rufus Oldenburger Medal is an award given by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers recognizing significant contributions and outstanding achievements in the field of automatic control. It was established in 1968 in the honor of Rufus ...

(1994) and the IChemE Moulton Medal. He was a Fellow of the IEE, the IChemE, the

Institute of Measurement and Control Founded in 1944 and incorporated by Royal Charter in 1975, The Institute of Measurement and Control (InstMC) is a professional members institution for individuals and companies that operate within the measurement and control industries. Its aims a ...

, the

Royal Academy of Engineering The Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) is the United Kingdom's national academy of engineering. The Academy was founded in June 1976 as the Fellowship of Engineering with support from Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who became the first senior ...

and the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

. Howard Rosenbrock was a pioneer of multivariable frequency domain control design methods. He also made important contributions to the numerical solution of stiff differential equations and in the development of parameter optimization methods, both known as

Rosenbrock methods Rosenbrock methods refers to either of two distinct ideas in numerical computation, both named for Howard H. Rosenbrock. Numerical solution of differential equations Rosenbrock methods for stiff differential equations are a family of single-step ...

. The

Rosenbrock function In mathematical optimization, the Rosenbrock function is a non- convex function, introduced by Howard H. Rosenbrock in 1960, which is used as a performance test problem for optimization algorithms. It is also known as Rosenbrock's valley or Ros ...

is a benchmark test for numerical optimization algorithms.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosenbrock, Howard Harry 1920 births 2010 deaths Alumni of University College London Control theorists Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Fellows of the Royal Society British expatriates in the United States

See also

References